Victims' Friends Dispute Cops

Volusia Deputies Were Told Name Of Suspect Before Massacre, 2 Witnesses Say

DELTONA -- Two witnesses Wednesday contradicted claims by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office that deputies did not know that a man now accused of beating to death Erin Belanger and five friends had threatened her in the days leading up to the slayings. Belanger called 911 from her Telford Lane home Aug. 1 to report strangers threatening her over a dispute about property. When deputies arrived, the suspects were gone.

But in the latest of many failures of the police and judicial system to come to light since the killings, two people who were with Belanger and her friends that night said Wednesday that deputies were told that Troy Victorino was among the group that threatened Belanger.

Victorino, a convicted felon and suspected ringleader in the massacre, led a group armed with baseball bats, brass knuckles and knives as they called for Belanger by name while she hid in her bedroom, the witnesses said. They also said the three men who are accused along with Victorino in the slayings were part of that armed group.

Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson repeatedly has said deputies would have put Victorino behind bars if they had known that he threatened Belanger. That is because Victorino was on probation at the time after serving six years of a 15-year sentence for beating a man nearly to death with a stick in 1996.

Johnson was not available for comment Wednesday night, but department spokesman Gary Davidson defended investigators.

"We stand by our deputies and the actions that they took," Davidson said. "Everybody knew this guy was a bad guy and a thug. But being a bad guy and a thug and taking baseball bats and bashing to death six innocent people is a huge leap, and I don't think anyone could have foreseen this coming."

But, Abigael Vazquez, a friend of Belanger's who also knew Victorino, said he told deputies the night of the 911 call Aug. 1 that Victorino was dangerous.

"I told them that it was Troy who had been out there [harassing Belanger]," said Vazquez, 18. "I am scared of Troy. He is a big guy, and has this look in his eyes that says he'll hurt you."

Police reports released Wednesday from the Aug. 1 incident do not include any reference to Vazquez or the deputy he says he told about Victorino.

As Belanger talked to a 911 dispatcher from her bedroom, she was not able to see all of the intruders. The police report stated that Belanger was "unable to provide information as to who was trespassing on the property."

But the reports do list Josh Smilak, another friend of Belanger's at her house that night, as a witness. Reached by phone Wednesday, Smilak backed up Vazquez's account.

"Abby [Vazquez] told them that Victorino was outside the house," Smilak said. "I am 100 percent positive of that. I was there when it happened."

Smilak, 18, said he went over to the house about 9 p.m. with Vazquez and two others.

"We were just hanging out," he said. About 1 a.m., there was a knock at the door. Three women walked into the house before Belanger's boyfriend, Francisco "Flaco" Ayo Roman, realized they were not friends of anyone in the house. They started yelling for Belanger to come out, Smilak said.

"Outside, all the guys [except Victorino] were yelling and cursing," he said. "Flaco was telling them that they didn't want any trouble, but if they didn't leave, they'd call the cops."

The group left a few minutes before the cops arrived, Smilak said. That's when he discovered his tires had been slashed.

Belanger called 911 again at 3:45 a.m. after a group of men and women knocked on her door again and one man rushed into her room, cursing at her and screaming, "What are you going to do now?"

Belanger's conflict with Victorino began earlier in the week when she found several people living in her grandmother's vacant Deltona home without permission. Family members say a cousin of Belanger's may have let the group into the house. Belanger called deputies to clear them out, then cleaned up the house, removing Victorino's Xbox video-game system and some clothes, investigators said.

Victorino wasn't there to claim them because he was in jail, accused of beating up another friend.

In the days before she and her friends were beaten to death, Belanger repeatedly told her family that she was scared and that she did not think police were taking the case seriously.

The Aug. 1 incident also was not the first time deputies had been told of an apparent probation violation by Victorino. Vazquez and his family had filed a report with deputies two weeks earlier claiming Victorino had beaten up Vazquez.

Vazquez said he told deputies July 18 that Victorino was out of jail on probation, making his attack a probation violation. "I told the police straight out that it was Troy Victorino and that I was afraid he would kill me," he said. "I knew he was the devil."